By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch Senior Columnist
UFC 309 was this past weekend and featured a big title fight and some exciting finishes. Who won and who lost? Let’s get to the rundown.
UFC 309
GOOD- Mauricio Ruffy vs. James Llontop
Tentative start to this catchweight context. Both fighters begin
throwing jabs and low kicks before loading up on some hard punches.
Stiff leg kicks also find their mark before the first round ends. The second round begins with kicks flying at each other and a few jabs as
well. Ruffy drops Llontop with a power left hand but he gets back up
and tries for a takedown but can’t get it. Ruffy connects with a huge right hand that Llontop absorbs somehow. Ruffy connects with a few more powerful punches that stun Llontop but the second round ends. The
third round starts with both men fighting in close as exhaustion sets in. Llontop nails some knees to the body and some kicks before Ruffy fights back. They both absorb some stiff strikes before the fight ends. We go to the judges to render their verdict.
Ruffy wins the decision to improve to 11-1 and has won 6 straight fights while Llontop drops to 14-5 and has lost 3 straight fights.
Good win for Ruffy.
GOOD- Viviane Araujo vs. Karine Silva
Silva starts off with low kicks to start. Araujo responds with
punches. Both women are mixing up their strikes now and Araujo lands
some stiff strikes but gets warned for outstretched fingers and the first round ends. The second round begins with a lot of striking as they’re blasting each other until Silva gets a takedown. They grapple
for the rest of the second round, trading submission attempts. The third round starts with Arujo reversing a takedown attempt from Silva
into one of her own before they get back to their feet and trade
strikes. Araujo gets another takedown as they tire and follows that with another takedown later, though Silva is also flopping onto her back as she tries to get the fight to the mat but the fight ends. We go to the judges to render their verdict.
Araujo wins the decision to improve to 13-6 while Silva drops to 18-5 and has her 9 fight winning streak snapped. Good win for Araujo.
GOOD/BAD- Bo Nickal vs. Paul Craig
Both fighters start off firing a few strikes at a time with neither
man getting a true advantage before the first round ends. The second
round begins with more of the same, as Nickal starts to pull away a
bit with his striking but it’s still close. The third round starts and
ends with still more of the same and this fight has never left first gear. Neither fighter seemed to get going but the crowd only gets on Nickal. We go to the judges to render their verdict.
Nickal wins the decision to improve to an undefeated 7-0 while Craig drops to 17-9-1 and has lost 3 straight fights. Good win for Nickal.
GOOD- Charles Oliveira vs. Michael Chandler
This is a five-round fight for some unknown reason. They trade a few strikes and Oliveira gets a takedown eventually, after working for it.
Not much happening. What a surprise. The second round begins with the
fighters exchanging strikes. Oliveira knocks Chandler to a knee and Chandler tries to rush away as Oliveira pursues him. He catches
Chandler and staggers him with strikes before taking him down.
Oliveira works his ground-and-pound and drops elbows that cut Chandler
a bit before the second round ends. The third round starts with both fighters exchanging a lot of strikes. Oliveira gets a takedown and lands more elbows. Oliviera grabs a face crank but can’t get the tap and the third round ends.
The fourth round opens with more striking exchanges. Oliveira feels Chandler’s power and doesn’t like it so he goes for a takedown and gets it. They reach an impasse as Chandler fights off any Oliveira attempts for a submission until Oliveira grabs a rear-naked choke.
Chandler fights it off and keeps it from being locked in tightly and the fourth round ends. The fifth round begins with more striking
exchanges. Oliveira is hurt and gets dropped and Chandler follows him
down with a long series of strikes to the back of the head. For some reason the referee doesn’t care about this and lets it go on until
Oliveira works his way to his feet somehow. They separate and Chandler
slips on a punch and Oliveira follows him to the mat. Oliveira takes his back and grabs a rear-naked choke on top of the chin but Chandler
stands up somehow and throws himself to the mat to try to squash Oliveira. He hangs on so Chandler stands up and does it again, like that Goofy meme. It still doesn’t work, though, and the fight ends. We
go to the judges to render their verdict. Wild last round there.
Oliveira wins the decision to improve to 35-10 with 1 No Contest while
Chandler drops to 23-9. Good win for Oliveira.
GOOD- Jon Jones stops Stipe Miocic
Jones successfully defended his UFC Heavyweight Championship for the
first time here. They start off trading strikes before Jones gets a
trip takedown. Jones blasts Miocic with repeated elbows. Miocic is moving to keep the fight going but Jones keeps landing big elbows on
him. Somehow, Miocic survives and the first round ends. The second round begins with repeated striking exchanges. Jones is landing more,
as expected, but Miocic is absorbing them and the second round ends.
The third round starts with Miocic connecting with a strong uppercut
but Jones fights back with strikes of his own. Jones nails Miocic in the ribs with a spinning back kick that collapses Miocic and Jones finishes him off with a few punches to get the finish four and a half minutes into the third round.
Jones improves to 28-1with 1 No Contest while Miocic drops to 20-5.
Good win for Jones, who said he’s not retiring and has plenty of
options on who to fight next. No word on how long we’ll have to wait to see who those options are.
GOOD- Stipe Miocic retires
After the fight Miocic announced his retirement. He’s had a great career and is the greatest heavyweight in UFC history. He won the UFC
Heavyweight Championship twice by defeating Daniel Cormier and Fabricio Werdum and had four successful title defenses (one each)
against Daniel Cormier, Francis Ngannou, Junior dos Santos, and
Alistair Overeem.
Miocic also holds victories over Andrei Arlovski, Mark Hunt, and Roy Nelson. He’s had a hell of a career and I wish him well in his
retirement.
My new epic fantasy book is out. It’s called Kingdom of Zarias: The End’s
Beginning. The exciting epic fantasy series Kingdom of Zarias returns with the 4th book in the series. After the harrowing events of
Book 3 the residents of the Kingdom of Zarias continue on their paths.
Serena Summers continues to learn and grow as a fighter, desperately seeking to become stronger before she loses anyone else in her life.
Daniel Summers discovers new parts of the world that open his eyes to just how little he truly knows. A new hero, Lamar Abeers, arrives to
join the fight against evil. Plus, Zach Summers, Tiana Highsmith, and Xavien Ekens continue their journeys with their friends, and a new ruler of Vhaharen is crowned. The world has found a little peace.
However, that peace is only temporary. In a shocking act of violence,
the monstrous villain Galren strikes from the shadows and changes the
world forever. This is Book 4 in the series. There’s lots of action,
magic, and monsters in the Kingdom of Zarias. It’s like a tabletop
game in novel form. It’s on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and many other places. If you’re interested, I would greatly appreciate it if you would check it out and support me. Also, here’s the link to my Compendium book about the Kingdom of Zarias series- KoZ Compendium Thank you
very much, have a good day.
Comments and suggestions can be emailed to me at
hydenfrank@gmail.com and you can follow me on Twitter at @hydenfrank.
Thanks for reading and have a good day.
Leave a Reply